Starting Anew
by HoodedWordsmith
Summary: [BoO Spoilers]. After weeks of dread and grief, Leo finally returns to his friends at Camp-Half Blood along with Calypso. Amidst all the heartwarming reunion that involves powerful demigods crushing Leo quite comically, Nico somehow starts to become more welcoming and begins loosening up to a certain Will Solace. CONSISTS OF EVENTS AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER OF BoO. Cover by minuiko.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I just finished reading BoO (yeah I know I'm late to the partay but I've got buttload amount of work to do) and I gotta say, it was quite the cliffhanger. And yeah, I know Uncle Rick's like the king of cliffhangers but my imagination's just not emotionally quenched enough? I guess? D_oes that make sense? _Anyway, so here's my take after what happens after the last chapter. Enjoy. REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED.**

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><p><strong>Chapter I: Nico<strong>

Nico had been staring at his right hand for so long that he had eventually forgotten why he was looking at it so immensely in the first place. Then he remembered that he was recollecting the feeling of almost disappearing into darkness. He'd used up his shadow traveling powers to its limits that he was _this_ close to being sent back into the Underworld. Flashes of memories of jumping from place to place with Reyna and Coach Hedge recurred inside his head.

It has been two weeks since Gaea woke yet Nico felt like it had been eons ago. Everything now was so peaceful, it was easy to forget how near they were to the end of the world. Looking at the reassuring view of the Sound, he knew he ought to feel safe but after facing the wrath of two major titans, Kronos and Gaea, Nico knew it wasn't long until chaos broke out again.

"I imagined you'd be here." The familiar lightness in the voice informed Nico that it was Will Solace before he even saw him. The son of Hades has no idea how Will manages to sneak up on him without going unnoticed. Must be an addition to his countless talents.

"I imagine you leaving me alone." Nico said. However, his words didn't contain any hostility.

Will sighed. He was at Nico's side now. "Seriously, what does it take to keep you in the infirmary for _just_ three days?"

The shorter boy was about reply but became tongue-tied when he saw Will holding up an ear thermometer. _Why the hades would he bring that?!_

"Can you at least let me check your temperature?" The blond smiled tiredly.

Nico wasn't sure if it was just the way the sun outlined his hair or his stupid crooked smile, nonetheless, he thought Will Solace looked good. He surprised himself since he hadn't thought of anyone in that way not since, well, _Percy_.

"Yeah, I guess..." He rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze as the self-proclaimed 'doctor' placed the tip of the thermometer in his ear.

"Good! Since you didn't let me finish my general check-up... You practically ran off the second I took my eyes off of you." Will tried to sound menacing but his goody-two shoes look didn't exactly help him.

Nico didn't respond.

When the alarm produced a long beep, the son of Apollo glanced at the reading. "35.6." He said. "Not bad though I'd prefer if you-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud yell made them look up in the sky. They couldn't make out what it was or what the person was yelling. All they could see was a light shining amongst the clouds, like how metal reflects direct light.

"Come on!" Nico gestured to Will as he started to sprint off to where the thing was heading to land.

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><p>When they arrived at the amphitheater, Nico spotted Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Jason running in the front lines among a few other demigods. They were all looking up with narrowed eyes trying to figure out what the thing in the sky was. Unfortunately, no one held a weapon in hand in case it was an ambush team.<p>

"HEYUUGAA IGG BEEE WEEYOOOO!" A person shouted once more but his words were still incoherent. Then Jason spoke. "Is... Is that _Leo _riding Festus?"

Nico knew the glasses enhanced Grace's vision but he didn't know that it enhanced it _that good_.

"LEO?! IS THAT YOU?" Piper shouted at the top of her lungs with her hand cupped around her mouth. She had her eyes tightly shut but Nico could tell there were tears attempting to fall on her cheeks.

The rider must have not heard Piper because he didn't shout back. After minutes of silence, Jason gathered wind beneath his feet and soared towards the figure. The daughter of Aphrodite tried to hold him back in case of a surprise attack but he was way out of reach.

"Ugh... The sun's blinding my eyes..." Annabeth muttered under her breath. "I can't see clearly."

Nico agreed inwardly. Looking at the sunny skies for too long made black spots appear near his eyes. He blinked a couple of times to try to get rid of it but obviously, he failed.

When Jason seemed to be a dot beside the figure, he started moving around, bouncing up and down, playing with the winds. He then stood behind them and soon, the speed of the descent increased.

When the figure became visible, Nico saw that it was indeed Leo Valdez with a girl beside him riding the bronze dragon, Festus. He couldn't believe his eyes. He and Hazel felt his _death_. And now here he is alive and waving crazily, wearing a wide grin like an ADHD kid who just ate a million pounds worth of sugar candy.

"Oh gods, it _is_ Leo! Leo's alive!" Piper laughed with relief. She and Annabeth hugged tightly as everyone broke into a cheer of joy.

"That mischievous little boy..." Percy shook his head in a mixture of awe and disbelief. "I knew he'd make it."

"How did he manage to drink the Physician's cure after that explosion?" Will Solace looked amazed and respectful. "That son of Hephaestus really is something..."

As soon as the dragon finally made contact with the ground, Leo Valdez got off its back and landed dramatically, _Ironman_ style. Slowly, he looked up and said with a low voice. "I'm back."

The girl beside him got off as well, her eyes rolling. "He rehearsed that a million times on the way here..."

Nico had never seen her but she looked absolutely beautiful despite the mundane choice of clothes. She wore a pair of jeans matched with a white blouse. Her cinnamon colored hair was braided down to one side. Her eyes gleamed brown as she took in her surroundings. Her face looked delicate like a marble sculpture. She looked no more than fifteen and yet she appeared to be like a goddess.

"Calypso..." Percy's voice echoed despite the loud cheering of the crowd.

The girl turned to him slowly. At first, there was shock written all over her face but then her gaze softened. She smiled sadly, as if greeting an old friend. "Percy."

"Leo!" Leo Valdez interrupted the moment. He looked back and forth between the two, who seemed to be having a silent conversation.

"Leo!" Piper repeated as she surged forward to hug-tackle him. Due to his scrawny stature, they both fell to the ground, Leo faking to being crushed by her weight. Soon enough, Jason joined the welcoming team. Percy and Annabeth added to the weight as they cooperatively crushed the previously-thought dead man.

"Guys... I get it... you all love Uncle Leo... but seriously... crushing me..." He wheezed out. The other campers laughed at the little scene before them. It's nice to see half of the group reunited again, they should alert Hazel and Frank and Reyna about the great news soon. Nico smiled at how happy they all looked.

"Nico," Annabeth called out. The son of Hades seemed to be shocked to be acknowledged. "Get in here!"

"Me?" Nico pointed at himself with a raised eyebrow. Beside him, Will was smirking.

"Of course _you_!" Jason said. "You're part of the team too. Come on, get in here!"

Rolling his eyes, Will punched Nico's back in a friendly way, causing him to lose balance and stumble towards the group. He fell on top of Annabeth. All of them started laughing and surprisingly, he found himself laughing with them.

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><p><em>Next chapter coming soon!<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry that took quite a while, I hope you enjoyed Christmas (or Hanukkah or whatever it is you celebrate)... Anyway, here's chapter two.**

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><p><strong>Chapter II: Nico<strong>

The crowd parted like the Red sea when Chiron began trotting towards the huddled group in his centaur form. His face looked a little disheveled, a bit stressed, perhaps. After all, cleaning up after the _almost_-end-of-the-world was a lot to take even for a man who'd been through numerous battles.

When he was a few feet away, the welcoming team disbanded and revealed the dirty little kid who smirked proudly. Chiron spoke. "Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus... I guess a simple 'thank you' wouldn't cover what you have done for Camp Half-Blood, for Camp Jupiter but most of all, for Olympus."

"Maybe, a back massage then? Because, man, you can hear thousands of bones cracking when I twist sideways."

The centaur laughed through his nose. "The Apollo cabin can take care of that right after a short meeting with Dionysus. The rest of the team should come as well."

Soon, the people started dissolving as the rest of the Seven followed Chiron into the Big House. Even Festus squeaked his way through with loose parts. However, Nico stayed behind. The last few days had been full of meetings and reports topped with unnecessary trips to the infirmary, he needed to skip this one. Luckily, no one forced him to join them.

"Still choosing to be the brooding one in the group, huh?" Will lightly elbowed him in the stomach. Nico quickly turned his face to glare at him but the way Solace was smiling instantaneously melted his irritation right away. It was like a cold bucket of water had been thrown over a small growing fire.

Nico sighed. It was tiring trying to keep up with _this_ guy.

"You should go... You're technically part of the Seven, you know." The blond smiled with a bit of melancholy. "I would if I was."

"You could take my place anytime, I couldn't care less..." Nico offered but wondered if Will had been feeling a twinge of jealousy. Did he want to be part of the Seven? But what's so great about that? Your life is constantly in the hands of danger, twenty-four seven. Who would intentionally want to be totally tensed, stressed out and pressured by the huge weight of their role in the quest?

Apparently, Will does.

"Well, if you're not going to the meeting, I'm going to borrow you for day then." Will wiped the small frown from his face and replaced it with his usual cheerful demeanor.

"There's no way you could make me go back to the infirmary, Solace. _No way_." Nico shook his head a little too violently.

"Who said anything about the infirmary?" He smirked.

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><p>"Why can't you just ask one of your cabin members to do this for you?" Nico complained as both of them trudged through the North Woods. It was pretty stupid of them to casually walk along these woods filled with who knows what, unarmed, but here they were anyway.<p>

"Because everyone in the Apollo cabin is busy taking care of patients." Will looked up trying to locate where the thing they were looking for could have been.

Upon entering the woods, Will said that before Octavian and the whole Roman camp attacked, Camp Half-Blood had been preparing for battle as well. One of the members of the Apollo cabin, Jesse Hart, hid a quiver full of poisoned arrows on one of the tree branches in these woods. Loads of quivers had been stowed away since archers didn't exactly have unlimited ammos. If they run out, they might as well be useless in combat. However, the quiver Will was looking for was particularly special. He would have left Jesse Hart's arrows alone if it weren't for the fact that they were tipped with a Hydra's poison. Those things could burn or even kill anyone in the slightest contact.

"So, in short, we're running errands for Jesse Hart?" Nico tried saying without rolling his eyes.

"Yes because he's badly hurt and someone needs to take care of this ASAP." The blond moved his head constantly, keeping a sharp eye out on everything.

"Then why do you need me for this? Can't you handle this alone?"

"Hey, I totally can, but you know the rules." Will glanced back with a shrug.

"The rules say that you need at least one companion and weapons. Unless, you consider that ear thermometer a weapon, then yeah sure, you're definitely being a good camp leader." said Nico.

This comment made Will stop in his tracks. He turned around with fake exasperation. "Nico di Angelo, I never knew you could be sarcastic."

Nico knew he was joking but he felt a little bit too weird when he said his full name. "Shut up."

The son of Apollo laughed through his nose.

They continued walking through the woods in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though. It was the kind of silence that you'd be sharing with a good friend of yours. Both of you aren't trying to rack your brain for some silly things to say, you just both enjoy a little bit of solitude once in a while and that's exactly how it was with these two.

Nico would so often glance at the back of Will's head. His hair was cut quickly like the barber really needed to go to the bathroom but got him as a client minutes before he exploded. This haircut exposed his neck way more than it should have and for some reason, it bothered the son of Hades. In quests, he liked to keep his neck hidden, it made him feel oddly safe from monsters crawling up behind him. That's the reason he kept his hair unchopped and why he always wore his aviator jacket.

This thought triggered a question in his mind. _Had Will Solace ever been in an _actual _quest?_

He knew every camper over twelve years old had been in simple quests, mostly retrieving weapons or relics lost. But had Will ever been in quests involving killing monsters or giants or cyclopes? Has he ever been called upon by his godly father or some patron goddesses to do their dirty work for them? Nico always just assumed that he's been in several since he appeared to be so collected during the rise of Gaea. Even at the battle of Manhattan, he heard that even Percy asked for his help.

But before Nico could confirm it with the blond, he spoke.

"Ah, there it is. See, that wasn't too long of a walk, wasn't it?" Will was pointing to a tree branch where something was hanging. Nico intuited it was the quiver. It was dark and brown, blending in with the color of the barks so it was hard to notice. The tree from which in hung wasn't too much of a feat. It wasn't that hard to climb.

With that in mind, Nico watched his companion grab on to its trunk, hugging it tightly. He then placed his foot on a convenient gnarl and reached for the nearest branch. Putting all of his strength in his arms, Will was able to hoist himself upwards and began to balance on another sturdy branch.

Gripping tightly on a bough, he carefully tiptoed to stretch his arms towards the quiver. It was a fingertip away from him and it was vexing to the both of them that he still quite couldn't reach it.

"Argh! It's right the- woah!" Will momentarily lost his balance and started to wobble.

"Careful, Solace!" Nico instinctively shouted without thinking. When he realized how worried he must have sounded, he switched his gaze sideways. His face felt somehow hot.

From above, Will chuckled. "Will you catch me if I fall?"

All traces of the son of Hades' embarrassment from his earlier statement were all gone now. What Will Solace just said was so cringe-worthy and was way more embarrassing than anything Nico could have declared.

"That was pretty bad," The blond finally took hold of the quiver full of poisonous arrows, his voice unintentionally straining. "Wasn't it?"

As per usual, Nico didn't reply. However, something else caught his attention while Will started his descent.

It was a hyacinth flower.

Memories with Jason in Croatia started flashing in his mind. Although he was no longer hurting with the pain of unrequited love, the way that he felt when Cupid practically forced the words out of his mouth when he wasn't ready was dreadful. Even now, after telling Percy on his own will, he still felt... scared. What if he looks differently at him? What if they all do? Nico knew he was being ridiculous because even before he'd told anyone, he was already an outcast. People already looked at him differently, like he was a plague to be avoided. _Nothing's changed, it's just me who thinks that._ He thought.

Come to think of it, Nico wasn't originally planning to stay in Camp Half-Blood. He planned to start wandering off to wherever his feet brought him after Gaea. Or at least stay in a remote area. Whichever it was, he was sure he'd avoid people. But one factor cleared these thoughts of his and practically forced him to stay.

Will finally propped himself down with a wide grin plastered on his face, obviously proud of successfully completing his mission. He was about to boast about his small achievement when he saw Nico staring at the flower.

"A hyacinth." Will spoke. "Apollo named that actually. Do you know the story?"

"No, and I wouldn't want to." Nico said a little bit too quickly for his liking. He cursed silently in his head and bit his tongue.

The story of the hyacinth was about a love triangle between Hyacinthus, a hero who is said to be youthful and handsome, Apollo and Zephyr, the West Wind. Apollo and Hyacinthus were lovers so after the mortal died, the sun god made a flower on his spilled blood and named it the 'Hyacinth'.

"Really? Why not? It's my favorite story of Apollo's."

"Then I'm guessing you don't read a lot about your father."

Will beamed at him with a sun's radiance. "No, I do. I just particularly like this one."

Nico noticed that he mentioned the word _particularly_. He wanted to remain quiet and brush his statement off but his mouth just moved on its own. "Why?"

Before he could answer, an attending nurse from the Apollo cabin appeared out of nowhere. "Will! There you are! We need extra hands down in the infirmary."

"Is it anything serious?" Will's face turned dark and stern. He was always like this when it comes to the safety of the campers. He feels like he's always responsible for keeping everybody alive and going. Sure, Apollo's only a general practitioner of medicine but through the years he felt like the cabin was depending on him, especially as a cabin leader.

"N-No, but we do need to treat the Hermes and Hephaestus patients quickly. Plus we're low on ambrosia." The nurse had a tired look on her face. Her hair was coming out of its pins, her skin was pale with sweat.

"I have to..." Will peered at Nico. He looked like he was itching to run towards the cabins but at same time, he had apologetic eyes.

The son of Hades sighed. "Just go do your thing."

Will smiled gratefully and sprinted off but when he was a yard away from him, he stopped. "Oh yeah, about your question... go work it out yourself."

Then he ran together with the nurse and disappeared completely from sight.

Nico was taken aback, he definitely wasn't expecting that. "Go figure." He muttered to himself with a slight smile forming on his lips.

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><p><em>OOC? I don't know... Review!<em>


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